Sony is reintroducing a paid gate to online multiplayer gameplay alongside the upcoming release of its own shooter Resistance 3, and this time it will be known as PSN Pass.

Some eagle-eyed German gamers on the forum Konsolentreff found an image of a retail PS3 bundle containing the console and the game and discovered within it a new logo on the box with that label. No such feature had been announced, so the Internet speculation commenced.

Sony Computer Entertainment of America clarified to IGN that PSN Pass is indeed a program that requires players to input a one-time code to access the game’s online features including multiplayer. A SCEA spokesperson confirmed that the pass program will start for PS3 games with Resistance 3, which launches in September, and going forward will be specific to each game. Games included in the program will come with one single-use code in the box that grants the original buyer full online access for the game.

Those without such a code – that’d be you, used game buyers – can buy one online through the PSN Store. Prices for passes were not clarified and Sony said that additional details will come later.

So far, the approach is essentially equal to the EA Online Pass which debuted last year. Sony began dabbling in the practice late last year when it rolled out “Online Entertainment” passes for two PSP games, SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 3 and ModNation Racers. However, up to now creators of shooters – where online multiplayer is a critical feature – have refused the option to use online passes, and in that respect Sony’s move could be somewhat aggressive.

Online passes are merely the latest salvo in the pricing war surrounding used games. As all hardcore gamers now know, those who make games – publishers and developers – are really peeved when retailers sell used games. The retailer gets to profit from the same copy of a game multiple times (and the margin is usually better on the used sale!) while creators only get one sale per disc. Gamers, being rational consumers, have gone for used games and rentals in droves.

Creators have largely responded by tying their products to the cloud. Among extremely vocal, forum-reading hardcore gamers, access-management schemes range from acceptable (MMOs and Steam) to downright atrocious (anything not MMOs or Steam). For online passes, it appears that the jury hasn’t yet reached a verdict. In 2010, that relative quiet may have been connected to the relative distance between players of hardcore games like shooters and RPGs, and the players of sports games, who as a market segment kind of keep to themselves.